Insult To Injury: Minnesotans Protest Washington’s Nickname, Then Beat Them In Football

The sight of Matt Cassel taking a knee as the clock runs out did not sit well with Washington football fans tonight, we’re sure. Vikings win 34-27, but if that wasn’t bad enough, hundreds broke out the placards earlier in the day to protest the ‘Redskins” nickname.

It happened outside the Metrodome prior to the Thursday night game, as the Gov. of Minnesota, and the mayor of Minneapolis, led a few resounding raspberries toward the Redskins name.

At a Thursday morning news conference, Gov. Mark Dayton called the name “racist” and suggested every member of Congress should boycott the team to put pressure on its owners.

Also Thursday, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak released a statement saying the name disrespects indigenous people. Six members of the Minneapolis City Council recently sent a letter to the team’s owner and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell calling the name and team mascot racist.

Former Minnesota Vikings safety Joey Browner also spoke out against the name.

“I want to show that I’m indigenous and I want to show a conscious awareness to the world,” he said. “We need to change the imagery presented to our children.”

Let’s see if others cities follow suit.

It would be a lot harder to protest the name if Washington was winning: a good record kind of gives you a Teflon coating when other things go wrong. But as it is, the bad news is piling up against Daniel Synder. I think that the nickname protesters smell blood in the water.

So, the game: why was Cassell in at the end? Christian Ponder hurt his shoulder on a dive toward the end zone … which was initially ruled a TD, but later spotted at the 1. Adrian Peterson then ran it in, so AP Fantasy owners, you owe Ponder a basket of nachos.